Shy Guy
Shy Guys are troublemakers that wear robes and masks. They have first appeared in the non-Mario game Doki Doki Panic. They originally works for Wart in the dreamworld Subcon. The Shy Guys are common enemies in the Yoshi series. In later games, Shy Guy make some social activities like sports and parties. They are too timids.
Appearances
Nightmares in Dreamland
Shy Guys appeared frequently in Super Mario Bros. 2. In this game they worked for Wart, and would once again just walk in whatever direction Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, or Toad happened to be in. They could be easily disposed of by being picked up and thrown. They often appeared out of vases.
A neat trick that the player could do in Super Mario Bros. 2's remake Super Mario Advance is to place a Mushroom Block one space away from the vase that Shy Guys are coming out of. This way a mass of Shy Guy's would gather in the empty space between the Vase and the Mushroom Block. When enough Shy Guy's are there, the Player simply needs to pick up an object (even one of the Shy Guys) and throw it at the group. In this way, the player can easily max out his/her lives.
Battle for Yoshi's Island
Shy Guy's first appearance (chronologically) was in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where he was known as Shy-Guy. Here they were extremely common and weak enemies, simply walking forward, making it easy for Yoshi to swallow them and turn them into Egg's. If they touch Yoshi, Baby Mario will go flying off his back. Shy Guys would often appear out of Pipes until Yoshi got six eggs.
The Story Book Crisis
In Yoshi's Story Shy Guys were once again common enemies, walking forward and backward. The Jumping variety from Yoshi's Island had disappeared, although some Shy Guys are seen to carry Fruit, or hide in trees. To defeat the Shy Guys that are in trees, Yoshi must Ground Pound near the tree they are hiding in, causing them to fall out. Additionally, if Yoshi Ground Pounds near a Shy Guy, its color will change. If different colored Yoshis eat a Shy Guy with the same color, they will be awarded with three petals instead of one. This game also introduces the first "good" Shy Guy, the White Shy Guy. Shy Guys have voices in this game; they can be distinctly heard saying "heigh ho" and other sounds as well.
Shy Paper
Shy Guys were semi-common enemies in Paper Mario. After Mario returns from Forever Forest he finds Toad Town over-run with Shy Guys. He can hit the enemies with his Hammer to run them out of the town. Once Mario discovers Shy Guy's Toy Box (the secret hide-out of the Shy Guys) they can be fought like normal enemies, with HP points. They have two main attacks: They can simply tackle Mario (three damage), or they can jump on top of him, dealing five damage.
Interestingly, a during the ending cinema of the game some Shy Guys can be seen talking with Watt, implying that they have changed their ways.
Dead, But Moving
In Luigi's Mansion, Shy Guys reappeared as ghosts with pitch forks (Likely a reference to Beezo). To defeat them, Luigi had to suck up the Shy Guy's mask before he could suck it into his vacuum. Strangely this is the only type of Shy Guy that has been seen with its mask off.
Audience Members
Although Shy Guys were not actual enemies in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, they did appear in the audience of most of the battles, and a few stone Shy Guys also appeared on the Poshley Heights fountain. Occasionally, if part of the audience, Shy Guys will run onto the backstage and cause pieces of the set to fall on Mario or his enemies. Shy Guys will give Mario Star Points along with the other audience members when he performs a move correctly. They also appear in the audience of Super Paper Mario when a Stylish Move is performed; it is interesting to note that the name "Heihoo" (which is Japanese for "Shy Guy") appears alongside other scrapped enemy names in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's coding, indicating that Shy Guys were once going to appear as enemies in that game, although it is unknown if they were ever going to play any more major role then their final one in Super Paper Mario.
Return to Yoshi's Island
Shy Guys also appeared in Yoshi's Island DS, once again, as very common and weak enemies. Yoshi could use any tactic to defeat them: jumping, egg-throwing, or swallowing. Shy Guys in this game played virtually the same role as they did in Yoshi's Island. Other than being common enemies, Shy Guys also had their own section in the Island Museum. Yoshi could view the different types of Shy Guys in that section, though Shy Guys that do not wander on land, such as Tube Guys, were only in the marine section.
Other Appearances
Racing
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Shy Guys appear ice-skating in one of the stages, forming obstacle for the racers. A statue of two Shy Guys can be seen in the background of Baby Park, and they appear in the audience of Waluigi Stadium. A Shy Guy was playable in the download play version of Mario Kart DS. Also, on the Action Replay DS Card, there was a cheat where the player could press select to play as the said Shy Guy.
Tennis
A Shy Guy was an unlockable character in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. This is the first time a Shy Guy was ever playable. Shy Guy came back for another round in Mario Power Tennis but this time was available from the start. For his power move, he does a Spear Guy-type dance, gets a spear, and electrifies the ball. When he won a Singles Tournament, a cut-sceen would play. During this, he would walk up to to podium with the trophy on while Mario and Luigi would there applauding him. Accidentally, Shy Guy trips over a step on the small staircase and his mask falls off. The screen doesn't show what he looks like without his mask but an astonished Mario and Luigi see it and just stand there with their mouths hanging wide open. Shy Guy quckly puts his mask back on, takes the trophy and walks off of the podium; thus ending the cut-sceen. This shows that Shy Guys probably wear masks because they are hiding something very...scary.
Mario Party
Shy Guys appears in the Mario Party series (mainly in the minigames). In this series Shy Guys are friends of the Mario cast. In Mario Party 4 a Shy Guy (with a Toad, a Boo, a Goomba and a Koopa Troopa) find the mystical Party Cube, with this Party Cube they can create parties and game boards. In this game Shy Guy wears an Indiana Jones-like costume. And he has his own game board: Shy Guy's Jungle Jam.
Baseball
Shy Guys of all different colors were playable in Mario Superstar Baseball. They are balanced characters. Ironically, their starting captain is Yoshi, one of their earliest enemies.
Super Smash Bros.
Shy Guys also appear in the Yoshi's Story stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Although they're actually Flying Shy Guys, they are called Shy Guys for some reason. The Shy Guys will fly past the stage. They are unable to damage players, but they carry Food with them, which can be dropped on the ground if they are attacked. If you KO a Shy Guy you receive the bonus "Shy Guy KO". They also have a Trophy in their honor. Shy Guys (actually Fly Guys) will soon appear in Yoshi' Island in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. They will retain the exact same job they had in the last game. Not much information has been revealed on this topic, however.
Appearances in Other Media
Cartoons
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Shy Guys made irregular appearances as antagonists, working for King Koopa instead of Wart. Like most other minions of King Koopa, Shy Guys would wear costumes to go with the setting of an episode in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Publications
Shy Guys appeared commonly in issues of Nintendo Comics System, where they appeared as the, somewhat disgruntled, soldiers of Bowser; along with Koopa Troopas, Shy Guys appeared to be the most common sminions of Bowser in Nintendo Comics System.
In Super Mario Adventures, a Shy Guy, along with a Snifit and Flurry, appeared as an attendee at Bowser's wedding to Princess Toadstool.
Movie
In the Super Mario Bros. movie, the scientist minions of King Koopa largely resembled Shy Guys, possessing similar masks and robe-like clothing; to strengthen this resemblence, the Snifits, close relatives of Shy Guys, of the Super Mario Bros. film also resembled these scientists.
Other Info
Alleigance
Shy Guys first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2, where they were minions of the tyrannical king Wart. However, there first appearance chronologically was in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where they were members of the Koopa Troop. Since Super Mario Bros. 2 may have actually been a dream, it is possible that the Shy Guys working for Wart were ghosts from Mario's childhood, meaning that they had never served anyone but Bowser. It can be assumed that the Shy Guys that work for Bowser answer to General Guy.
Since Super Mario Bros. 2, Shy Guys have been seen working for many other villains, including Smithy and Donkey Kong. One Shy Guy (the White Shy Guy) is actually an ally of Yoshi's. It may be assumed that Shy Guys are jacks-of-all-trades, and can work for whomever they want to or may evan be mercinaries.
Physical Appearance
All Shy Guys (with the minor exception of General Guy) wear robes that can be red, pink, blue, yellow, green, black, or white. They are all fairly short, and all wear masks. The masks have been a mystery to fans for quite a while now. It is unknown what is behind them, or if they are actually even masks. In the intro movie of Mario Power Tennis, Luigi sees a Shy Guy without his mask on, and is shocked by what he sees. In Luigi's Mansion, Luigi can use the Poltergust 3000 to pull the mask out of Shy Guy Ghosts. These faces are pure blackness with two glowing, yellow, eyes. It is unknown whether this is what a Shy Guy's face looks like when it is alive, or if the Shy Guy Ghosts are even actual Shy Guys, as they are not actually ghosts. (They, like the game's other generic ghosts, were imitations created by Vincent Van Gore.)
It is also possible that the Shy Guys' so-called "masks" are not masks at all, but rather faces. In Yoshi's Island DS, the sleeping Shy Guy's masks' eyeholes were closed, supporting this fact, and the Bandit sub-species of Shy Guy have been shown to have the ability to quite freely move the faces on their masks. (The "masks" of Bandits are also notable for looking little like masks at all, having cartoony facial expressions spangling them.) The picture shown when Bandit wins in Super Mario World 2 minigames even suggests that he is able to stick out his tongue. Also, Super Mario RPG's Shy Guys' eyeholes comically spin when the Shy Guy is confused, much like people's eyes do in cartoon gags; the Shy Guys of Super Mario RPG are also able to blush on their masks. Spear Guys and Cannibal Guys are perfectly capable of moving their mouthholes when chanting and singing, as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island shows. Most recently, in Mario Strikers Charged, Shy Guys have been shown to yet again to be perfectly able to change the expressions on their masks. However, most information suggests that Shy Guy's mask is indeed a mask, and what he hides behind it is surely something very dark and secret.
Interestingly, early Super Mario Bros. 2 artwork of Shy Guys, as well as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, depicted Shy Guys as wearing strange, Chuckola Fruit-like badges depicting an angry face. It is unknown what this badge represents; it is possible that it is some kind of emblem to the 8-bits, another Shy Guy-related element seen only in Super Mario Bros. 2. Super Mario Bros. 2 and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! are also notable for using game artwork of the earliest forms of Shy Guys, making them tall, stout, and humanoid; however, the appearance of Shy Guys was later retconned to their in-game sprite appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2.
In the first few episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Shy Guys were depicted as being similar in appearance to their game counterparts, though with one large exception - their masks possessed only two holes, with these holes being, the eyeholes, perpetually being in the scowling position. Later episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! would have Shy Guys resembling their game versions more, with their masks having three holes, all of which were perfectly circular.
Sub-Species
These two sub-species also have many different sub-species themselves:
Other:
- Anti Guy
- Barbecue Guy
- Beezo
- Black Shy Guy
- Boo Guy
- Boom Guy
- Chandeli-Ho
- Chuck Guy
- Fat Guy
- Fly Guy
- Flying Shy Guy
- Ghoul Guy
- Glide Guy
- Groove Guy
- Gunner Guy
- Jetpack Guy
- Jungle Guy
- Limbo Guy
- Mace Guy
- Medi Guy
- Melon Guy
- Mini-Shy Guy
- Mock Up
- Mufti Guy
- Mummy Guy
- Phantom Guy
- Pirate Guy
- Pyro Guy
- Rocket Guy
- Shy Away
- Shy Guy (ghost)
- Shy Guy Lion
- Shy Ranger
- Shy Squad
- Shy Stack
- Shyper
- Shyster
- Sky Guy
- Sling Shy
- Submarine Guy
- Tube Guy
- Woozy Guy
Notable Shy Guys
- Big Guy the Stilted - Yoshi's Island DS
- Game Guy - Mario Party 3
- General Guy - Paper Mario
- Gourmet Guy - Paper Mario
- Petal Guy - Mario Party Advance
- White Shy Guy - Yoshi's Story
Paper Mario Stats and Tattle Information
Shy Guy
- HP: 7
- Attack: 2
- Defense: 0
- Tattle: This is a Shy Guy. They're ne'er-do-wells. Big time rascals. No good... They occasionally do acrobatic attacks that have an attack power of 3. Who knows what lies in the hearts of these troublemakers? I guess they're dangerous, but they're pretty small time.
Mario Superstar Baseball Information
- Type: Balanced
- Starting Team Captain: Yoshi
- Status: Player
- Stats:
- Red Shy Guy Stats:
- Batting: 5/10
- Pitching: 3/10
- Fielding: 5/10
- Running: 4/10
- Blue Shy Guy Stats:
- Batting: 4/10
- Pitching: 3/10
- Fielding: 5/10
- Running: 5/10
- Yellow Shy Guy Stats:
- Batting: 3/10
- Pitching: 4/10
- Fielding: 5/10
- Running: 4/10
- Green Shy Guy Stats:
- Batting: 4/10
- Pitching: 4/10
- Fielding: 5/10
- Running: 4/10
- Black Shy Guy Stats:
- Batting: 4/10
- Pitching: 4/10
- Fielding: 6/10
- Running: 4/10
- Red Shy Guy Stats:
- Player Profile:
- Strong Point: Nothing Particular
- Special Talents: Sliding Catch
- Trajectory:
- Field: Center
- Height: Normal
- Star Pitch: Slowball
- Star Swing: Center
- Default Batting Position: Left
- Default Throwing Arm: Left
- Sweet Spot: The Shy Guy mask on the bat
- Compatible Relationships: Birdo, Monty Mole
Bio: "A charming, masked soldier. Shy Guys used to serve an evil king named Wart, but they nowadays make a lot of cameo appearances as friendly rivals of Mario. That said, they aren't always good... On the baseball mound, Shy Guys are consistent players with a few weaknesses."
Super Smash Bros. Melee trophy information
There are many types of Shy Guys: they've been known to walk on the ground, fly through the air, traipse about on stilts, wear flowers or camouflage, throw balls, swing bats, sail on pirate ships, carry fruit, do the Bamboo Dance, ride submarines, play guitar, play tennis, wear red, come in large or small sizes, steal people's toys, cause mischief...
Trivia
- The Mask-Guys from Virtual Boy Wario Land are very similar to Shy Guys in that they both have names ending in "guy" and that they are both shy creatures who hide their faces behind masks. As a matter of fact, Mask-Guy may be a Shy Guy sub-species, although this is unconfirmed.
- Shy Guy's emblem in various games is its mask.
| Yoshi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | Mario • Yoshi • Luigi | |
| Enemies | Puzzle pieces | Bloober • Boo Buddy • Little Goomba • Piranha Plant |
| Other | Bob-omb • Cheep Cheep | |
| Yoshi types | Little Yoshi • Yoshi • Winged Yoshi • Star Yoshi | |
| Items | Apple • Cherry • Coin • Fire Flower • Grape • Key • Melon • P Switch • Pineapple • Peach • Red Shell • Strawberry • Super Mushroom • Super Star • Yoshi's egg | |
| Miscellaneous | Gallery | |
